Communication is a basic skill that can take you very far academically and professionally. It is clear that Mason recognizes its importance because communication classes are apart of the required core classes. Communication presents itself in many different ways now (email, texting, social media, in person, over the phone, etc) and it is important for millennials to keep up with the different forms.
World renowned chef Jose Andres
One event that sticks out to me is the Freedom and Learning forum we held in the Fall 2015 semester. We had two very special guests, chef Jose Andres and President Angel Cabrera. My task for the night was to emcee the event. I didn’t think anything of it because public speaking was never an issue for me. In fact, I sort of loved it. Something was different that night, though. It was my turn to introduce one of the esteemed professors at George Mason. I looked over the bio a few times before going on stage and before I knew it, it was time for me to introduce her. I got on stage and before I started to speak I could feel my hands starting to shake and my voice was quivering. I started to speak and I noticed I was stumbling over my words. This moment really made me sit and think about my communication style. I couldn’t understand why I struggled so much in that moment when I had experience in public speaking. I realized that every situation is different and things like communication will change depending on the situation. This situation in particular, I think I was just nervous ( 🙂 ), but it served as a great learning experience for me.